03-20-2009, 04:47 AM
(This post was last modified: 03-20-2009, 04:48 AM by Piper Juunanagou.)
“Yea… okay,” Piper muttered as she narrowed her eyes and tried to spot any signs of the encroaching squad of gun-totting thugs. “Looks like it’s about time to get this show started,” she added as she clutched the old, wooden rifle closer to her chest. Rising from her crouched position in front of the dusty window, the redhead bit her lower lip as she looked down at Kaden. The young courier glanced over his shoulder up at the woman and lifted an eyebrow.
“Yes?” He inquired as Piper turned her attention toward the wall that he had been staring at a few moments beforehand.
“What direction are they coming from?” The woman asked as she turned her attention back to the crouched courier. “I think I’m going to take a higher vantage point,” she added as she let the barrel of the rifle swing down toward the ground. After a moment of what appeared to be silent deliberation, Kaden closed his eyes and let out a deep breath of air.
“North,” he whispered as he gestured toward the nearby wall without opening his eyes. When the courier opened his eyes, the medic was already gone, leaving nothing but a creaking door as a sign of her passage.
Leaving the dusty, decaying room behind her, Piper quickly made her down the hallway and up the creaking set of stairs that connected the second and third floor of the Olde Town hotel. Once she stepped off the third floor landing, the redhead took a moment to figure out which direction Kaden had pointed out to her. With a grunt and a blatant frown on her slightly haggard visage, Piper scanned the nearby doors.
“Should be right,” she muttered as she tried the knob of an old mahogany door on the other corner of the floor. When the lock turned out to be defiant, Piper smashed the door in with a combination of her foot and the butt of the old rifle. The busted door creaked inward to reveal a room that seemed to have maintained a little bit of its former glamour despite years of age and disrepair. Stepping into the suite, the redhead quickly located the large bay windows on the north wall of the room.
Not the best fortification. The woman pondered as she gazed upon the sheer enormity of the two massive windows. But this is as good a vantage point there is. She mused as she walked up to the grime-coated windows.
Looking outside, she could see the stretch of buildings that comprised the ghost town. Most of them looked just like the sheriff’s office—derelict and downtrodden. They were all just frames of wood and brick filed with rotting furniture and dead memories. Gazing down upon the lines of buildings, Piper pondered what kind of place this town had been in its heyday. Perhaps if she hadn’t been thrown into her current life or death, she could try and catch a glimpse of the town’s history through a landmark or two.
This place is going to get wrecked... She thought with a slight degree of sadness as a frown spread across her grim features. Despite the fact that they were inanimate objects, Piper felt a strange sense of fealty with the old buildings. After all, there had been many times in her life where she had felt—as melodramatic as its sounds—like an empty husk. Unlike Olde Town, Piper was beginning to change things around…she was trying to avert the catastrophe that would consume the ghost town in its wake.
As she cracked open the bottom half of the window, the woman caught sight of Orion. The crafty, one-eyed warrior was stalking his way through the alleys like a wolf on the hunt. Without even knowing it, the medic lifted the rifle up to her shoulder and found herself staring through the scope. Taking a step back into the room, she leveled the crosshairs with the man’s back. This was it. This was her chance to put down the rapid dog before he had a chance to compromise the security of Kaden and herself.
Try as she could to pull the trigger, Piper could not. In fact, she found herself shaking ever so slightly as she tried to keep the gun leveled with the fearsome warrior. In her head, fragments of her conversation with Kaden danced about—clouding her judgment.
I’m glad you’re here…
I probably woulda lost it by now if everyone else was some kind of stone-cold killer.
Try not to kill anyone.
"Damn it!" Frustration welled up in Piper’s eyes as she tried to pull that trigger. All it would take was a few ounces of pressure on one tiny hook of metal. After that, there’d be one less wolf in the sheep pack, but Kaden’s words held too much sway over the stricken woman. As she clenched her eyes shut, Piper felt a hand fall on her shoulder. Opening her eyes, she watched in silence as Kaden slowly lowered the barrel of her rifle with his other hand.
“You okay?” He asked upon noticing the tears in the corners of the woman’s eyes.
“Yea,” Piper muttered whilst recoiling away from the man’s calm grip. “I just need my medication,” she added as she fished into her sidepack for her orange bottle of pills.
“Medication?” Kaden asked as he stared out the open window and took a moment to peek down at Orion. If the courier was aware of Piper’s intentions, he chose not to air them. The one-eyed man, seemingly absorbed in his own affairs, was still oblivious to his audience.
“Migraines,” Piper replied as she scooped out four different pills and swallowed them. Over the years, the woman had mastered the art of downing several pills without need of water. She didn’t know whether that was something remarkable or unsettling. “Family pre-disposition,” it wasn’t entirely a lie. After all, she was prone to migraines, but the pills were mainly to ensure that all the chemicals in her brain remained in equilibrium.
“They’re closer now,” Kaden spoke as he opened the other bottom portion of the adjacent window. Extending his fist, the blonde courier channeled a small amount of shimmering blue energy around his hand. Upon extending his hand, the concentration of energy darted forward like a brilliant cerulean flare—a rather extravagant method of alerting their ‘comrade’ who had taken his position a block away from the smoldering ruins of the building that had befell his rage.
The one-eyed took but a second to verify the location of the two humans before returning his stare to the roadway that carved a path through the middle of Olde Town. Within minutes, the squadron of heavily armed soldiers would be marching their way through the ghost town. One way or another, Piper knew things weren’t going to be pretty.
“How close are they now?” Piper asked as she rested the barrel of the rifle on the windowsill. Leaning forward, she closed and eye and used the other to peer through the scope. Although the device wasn’t the most sophisticated, it magnified things enough that the medic could see what was going on near the base of the large dunes that surrounded the small ghost town. After a few tense seconds and no response from Kaden, Piper furrowed her brow and repeated her question. “How close are they now?”
The woman turned around to find Kaden staring at the other side of the room.
“They’re here,” he muttered in a half-startled, half-mortified tone as a heavy explosion ripped through the building. Like dead leaves, the southern half of the hotel went up in vibrant shades of orange and yellow. Outside the two windows, Piper could hear a cacophony of smaller explosions. It was the sound of a chorus of ki machineguns ripping apart the deteriorated town. From somewhere amidst the droning roar of the high-tech weaponry, the woman heard the distinctive roar of Orion as the one-eyed warrior mounted his offensive.
“We have to move,” Piper urged as the wall in front of them began to crumble from the heat of the fire. Stepping forward, the woman looped her arm around Kaden’s elbow and gave him a gentle tug toward a door leading to an adjacent section of the suite. “We have to try and find a staircase or a fire escape or a smaller building to jump onto… We stay here any longer and we’ll be joining this old thing,” she added with a heightened degree of urgency as the south wall of the room collapsed into the second floor.
“Yea,” Kaden muttered as he shook himself out of his momentary daze and turned to face the medic. “Come on,” the young blonde added as the pair began toward the nearby door in tandem.
“Yes?” He inquired as Piper turned her attention toward the wall that he had been staring at a few moments beforehand.
“What direction are they coming from?” The woman asked as she turned her attention back to the crouched courier. “I think I’m going to take a higher vantage point,” she added as she let the barrel of the rifle swing down toward the ground. After a moment of what appeared to be silent deliberation, Kaden closed his eyes and let out a deep breath of air.
“North,” he whispered as he gestured toward the nearby wall without opening his eyes. When the courier opened his eyes, the medic was already gone, leaving nothing but a creaking door as a sign of her passage.
Leaving the dusty, decaying room behind her, Piper quickly made her down the hallway and up the creaking set of stairs that connected the second and third floor of the Olde Town hotel. Once she stepped off the third floor landing, the redhead took a moment to figure out which direction Kaden had pointed out to her. With a grunt and a blatant frown on her slightly haggard visage, Piper scanned the nearby doors.
“Should be right,” she muttered as she tried the knob of an old mahogany door on the other corner of the floor. When the lock turned out to be defiant, Piper smashed the door in with a combination of her foot and the butt of the old rifle. The busted door creaked inward to reveal a room that seemed to have maintained a little bit of its former glamour despite years of age and disrepair. Stepping into the suite, the redhead quickly located the large bay windows on the north wall of the room.
Not the best fortification. The woman pondered as she gazed upon the sheer enormity of the two massive windows. But this is as good a vantage point there is. She mused as she walked up to the grime-coated windows.
Looking outside, she could see the stretch of buildings that comprised the ghost town. Most of them looked just like the sheriff’s office—derelict and downtrodden. They were all just frames of wood and brick filed with rotting furniture and dead memories. Gazing down upon the lines of buildings, Piper pondered what kind of place this town had been in its heyday. Perhaps if she hadn’t been thrown into her current life or death, she could try and catch a glimpse of the town’s history through a landmark or two.
This place is going to get wrecked... She thought with a slight degree of sadness as a frown spread across her grim features. Despite the fact that they were inanimate objects, Piper felt a strange sense of fealty with the old buildings. After all, there had been many times in her life where she had felt—as melodramatic as its sounds—like an empty husk. Unlike Olde Town, Piper was beginning to change things around…she was trying to avert the catastrophe that would consume the ghost town in its wake.
As she cracked open the bottom half of the window, the woman caught sight of Orion. The crafty, one-eyed warrior was stalking his way through the alleys like a wolf on the hunt. Without even knowing it, the medic lifted the rifle up to her shoulder and found herself staring through the scope. Taking a step back into the room, she leveled the crosshairs with the man’s back. This was it. This was her chance to put down the rapid dog before he had a chance to compromise the security of Kaden and herself.
Try as she could to pull the trigger, Piper could not. In fact, she found herself shaking ever so slightly as she tried to keep the gun leveled with the fearsome warrior. In her head, fragments of her conversation with Kaden danced about—clouding her judgment.
I’m glad you’re here…
I probably woulda lost it by now if everyone else was some kind of stone-cold killer.
Try not to kill anyone.
"Damn it!" Frustration welled up in Piper’s eyes as she tried to pull that trigger. All it would take was a few ounces of pressure on one tiny hook of metal. After that, there’d be one less wolf in the sheep pack, but Kaden’s words held too much sway over the stricken woman. As she clenched her eyes shut, Piper felt a hand fall on her shoulder. Opening her eyes, she watched in silence as Kaden slowly lowered the barrel of her rifle with his other hand.
“You okay?” He asked upon noticing the tears in the corners of the woman’s eyes.
“Yea,” Piper muttered whilst recoiling away from the man’s calm grip. “I just need my medication,” she added as she fished into her sidepack for her orange bottle of pills.
“Medication?” Kaden asked as he stared out the open window and took a moment to peek down at Orion. If the courier was aware of Piper’s intentions, he chose not to air them. The one-eyed man, seemingly absorbed in his own affairs, was still oblivious to his audience.
“Migraines,” Piper replied as she scooped out four different pills and swallowed them. Over the years, the woman had mastered the art of downing several pills without need of water. She didn’t know whether that was something remarkable or unsettling. “Family pre-disposition,” it wasn’t entirely a lie. After all, she was prone to migraines, but the pills were mainly to ensure that all the chemicals in her brain remained in equilibrium.
“They’re closer now,” Kaden spoke as he opened the other bottom portion of the adjacent window. Extending his fist, the blonde courier channeled a small amount of shimmering blue energy around his hand. Upon extending his hand, the concentration of energy darted forward like a brilliant cerulean flare—a rather extravagant method of alerting their ‘comrade’ who had taken his position a block away from the smoldering ruins of the building that had befell his rage.
The one-eyed took but a second to verify the location of the two humans before returning his stare to the roadway that carved a path through the middle of Olde Town. Within minutes, the squadron of heavily armed soldiers would be marching their way through the ghost town. One way or another, Piper knew things weren’t going to be pretty.
“How close are they now?” Piper asked as she rested the barrel of the rifle on the windowsill. Leaning forward, she closed and eye and used the other to peer through the scope. Although the device wasn’t the most sophisticated, it magnified things enough that the medic could see what was going on near the base of the large dunes that surrounded the small ghost town. After a few tense seconds and no response from Kaden, Piper furrowed her brow and repeated her question. “How close are they now?”
The woman turned around to find Kaden staring at the other side of the room.
“They’re here,” he muttered in a half-startled, half-mortified tone as a heavy explosion ripped through the building. Like dead leaves, the southern half of the hotel went up in vibrant shades of orange and yellow. Outside the two windows, Piper could hear a cacophony of smaller explosions. It was the sound of a chorus of ki machineguns ripping apart the deteriorated town. From somewhere amidst the droning roar of the high-tech weaponry, the woman heard the distinctive roar of Orion as the one-eyed warrior mounted his offensive.
“We have to move,” Piper urged as the wall in front of them began to crumble from the heat of the fire. Stepping forward, the woman looped her arm around Kaden’s elbow and gave him a gentle tug toward a door leading to an adjacent section of the suite. “We have to try and find a staircase or a fire escape or a smaller building to jump onto… We stay here any longer and we’ll be joining this old thing,” she added with a heightened degree of urgency as the south wall of the room collapsed into the second floor.
“Yea,” Kaden muttered as he shook himself out of his momentary daze and turned to face the medic. “Come on,” the young blonde added as the pair began toward the nearby door in tandem.
Quote:Vad's Whimsical Whimsicalisms: Men. Good stuff there.
![[Image: Viper-Mini-Sig-Piper.png]](http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b318/ThundercatsHO/Viper-Mini-Sig-Piper.png)
Nobody can go back and start a new beginning,
but anyone can start today and make a new ending.